Alternative technology is available in the form of a variety of impact pads, all of which are either circular or square for single drum beaters; oblong or rectangular for double drum beaters. See for example, the Evans patch bass drum impact pad, the Kickpad impact pad, and the Danmar kick pad. Also see the circular Eliminators.TM. sound absorption pad provided by the Bohning Company, Ltd. and the Falam Slam Bass Drum Pad manufactured by Remo, Inc., comprising a circular patch made of kevlar.RTM. woven fabric and mylar which is designed to extend the life of the bass drum head and produce a sharper, punchier bass drum sound.
Reference may also be made to German Patent DE 3,436,558 A1 for a multi-layered damping disc for drums consisting of polyethylene terephthalate film for supporting foam rubber layers. This multi-layered damping disc consists of a circular covering with the same diameter of the film skin forming a complete covering for the drum head.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,323 issued to Belli et al. in 1986 reveals a drum muffler for harmonically altering the overtones for a drum without reducing the sound comprising an insertable plastic support means to hold a layer of resilient foam against the underside of a drum head.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,635 issued to Santangelo in 1990 reveals a drum mute comprising a flexible resilient sheet which is adhered to the drum head. The underside of this sheet includes an adhesive to adhere to the drum head next to an area of felt. Said area of felt is elastically urged against the upper surface of the drum head to cause damping.
See also the drum head deadening device created by Hardy in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,244,266 and 4,325,281.
According to the United Kingdom Patent GB 2,217,091 A issued in 1989 a circular rubber disc with adhesive backing to reduce noise is taught. The disc described is foam rubber sandwiched between thick rubber discs applied with adhesive on the outer bass drum head. The bass drum pad can be made in various shapes--squares or rectangles are suggested.
None of the foregoing devices teaches an irregular peripheral edge for controlling sound by a means which reduces drum head distortion while it provides drum head protection from denting, stretching, and damage from impact by beaters, drum sticks, mallets, and other instruments during play.
The impact pad of this important invention utilizes holes, arms, legs, nodes and/or rings to control drum instrument sound--to conduct, direct, guide, handle, manage or manipulate the drum head to produce sound.
Some of the drawbacks to these designs are that each teaches sharp peripheral edge structures which produce drum head discontinuities at impact pad edge. Moreover, none of the foregoing inventions is designed to spread the percussive energy radially by means of radiating arms. Because the impact pad of the instant invention has such arms and/or legs, its central area can be made smaller than the disc or rectangle of prior art devices which facilitates greater drum head flexibility and less sound distortion. The flat sheet of the impact pad comprises a central area which may be circular, square, rectangular, oval, oblong, or have an irregular shape.
To alleviate this problem, and others which will become apparent from the disclosure which follows, the present invention conveniently disburses the mass of the impact pad over a greater effective area without causing significant drum head distortion. Moreover, the arms/legs may be configured asymmetrically to direct percussive energy.
The citation of the foregoing publications is not an admission that any particular publication constitutes prior art, or that any publication alone or in conjunction with others, renders unpatentable any pending claim of the present application. None of the cited publications is believed to detract from the patentability of the claimed invention.